Index

Saturday, June 25, 2011

I'm happy to report that I've kept up with my goal of making it in to my craft room to sew some each day. I don't stay in there long, but still feel like I've been productive. I'm working on a few projects all at once.These are the new items I listed in my etsy store:

I put in the trackback url back to my blog post but it's not showing up in the redgage post. For those of you who have done redgage, isn't the trackback link supposed to show up at the bottom of the post? Any, click on over to that one if you want to help me earn a little more with views.

I have a ton of squidoo lenses to get backlinked through redgage....and a bunch of my reviews to get in there....and also lots of flower pics as well. I also have 40 friend requests to take care of. Yep, if I find the time, I can keep myself plenty busy.

I'm going to close for this week, but I encourage you to check out Ruthi's Shop Hop blog hop by clicking the button below. List your own post or come and check out the others.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Last week as I reported, I had good intentions but didn't get anything done.
Another kind blogger pointed out to me that starting with organizing my desk was just too large of a project to be first, and to start with something smaller.

I have been working on de-clutttering my desk over this past week here and there. It has a ways to go!
I decided to make the coffee table my first project. I love the coffee table, but why do they always become one of the places to just pile things??

Here is the before photo:

Ack! Those items are now in their proper places, or the recycle bin, or the trash! I hope to really work hard on keeping it cleaned off. Just having the one table cleaned is already making the living room look more inviting. Here is the after photo. Hubby's laptop will again sit on the end of the coffee table for now...at least until I can figure out some other place for him to work on it? He leaves it on and open 24/7 as he runs scripts to play his silly facebook game.
Here is what it looks like now (minus the laptop)

I'm not sure which of my chosen projects I will tackle for next week while I continue to work on my desk. Maybe one of the side tables is a good choice. I have taken before shots of all spots I want to work on. I will be kept busy for week.

Please click the button below to check out the challenge, get this week's hint, and click over to see how others are doing in their own organizing.

Good Friday morning to all!
It's Friday, and time to share your frugal type posts from the past week. I do hope you will join in.

This past week Steve and I found ourselves broke. There just wasn't money to buy much as far as groceries. We ate leftovers, and made due with what food we had most of the week. Saturday evenings is Mom's night at our house. Steve did spend a mere little fortune buying a huge pork loin and macaroni salad, potato salad and baked beans for our meal. Only a portion of the pork loin was used and we have 2 more sections cut into roasts in the deep freeze. We ate on those sides for 4 days. I sure admit to getting tired of them! Thursday evening we spent $5.25 at my church eating at the grill night fundraiser, and tonight we pick my teen up from Bible camp and get to eat supper with her.

I'm reading a book called Financial Recovery for review. It's a great book and I'm going to start today with her suggestions so that we can get this money thing in check.

I only made one small run to the store. I didn't buy much, and no big savings. I did use the 2 Suave .75 coupons that I printed from their facebook page to get them for .06 each plus sales tax. Half gallons of milk are on sale 3 for $5, so I picked up a couple of those. That doesn't make it much cheaper than buying a gallon, but every few cents adds up.
My Walgreens and Wal Mart shopping as well as my Mailbox Monday posts are in the linky.

Steve's sister brought over a bunch of chives from her garden. I chopped and dried those in the oven. I love to use them in soups and potatoes.

I've had 2 bags of powdered milk in my cabinet that I rec'd through commodities. I've started mixing it up and using it when I bake and cook. No one's known the difference and it's sure saved on buying milk!

Nothing else really to report--I didn't even do laundry this week, I've still been reeling putting away all the laundry that I did last week. With no kids here this week I've only had to run the dishwasher twice. The air conditioner is still set at 81 and we are most comfortable with that.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

I want to start out by saying that I am not a fan of country music, however, I love this album! It sure made me re-think. There have always been some country songs that I really liked--heck, even know all the lyrics too.

I have listened to, and enjoyed, this album many times since receiving it for review.

Song list:

1. How and Why

2. When Your Heart Belongs To Another

3. Tattoos and Bruises

4. Leave Tonight

5. Hanging On The Wheel

6. The General

7. Gone

8. Wildflower

9. Morning Lover

10. Hurricane

CD includes insert with lyrics to all 10 songs. I love when they come with the lyrics so that I can follow along and learn the words quicker.

Born in Swainsboro, Georgia, singer-songwriter Mary Bragg lived in a number of Southern musical capitals—Athens, Atlanta, Nashville—before settling in New York in 2004. Her music is consequently a seamless hybrid of her Southern Americana roots and the downtown New York singer-songwriter community of which she has become a key member. Lee Alexander, one of the pioneers of this scene, produced Bragg’s forthcoming album, Tattoos and Bruises, and together they recruited a number of their friends and frequent collaborators to contribute. Having led a highly successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the recording, Bragg will release it June 7.

Writing for Tattoos and Bruises began in late 2008, continued during a residency at New York City’s great singer-songwriter launching pad, The Living Room, and was completed just moments before the final tracks were recorded. Writing or co-writing all ten of the album’s songs, Bragg invited Alexander to co-write four of them, while three more of her favorite songwriters, Adam Levy (another longtime collaborator of Norah Jones and Amos Lee), Colin McGrath, and her bassist/husband, Jimmy Sullivan, made additional co-writing contributions. The ten tracks that comprise the final album were recorded and mixed over 14 days at Jones’ East Village studio, The Coop, with Tom Schick (Wilco, Rufus Wainwright) engineering and co-mixing.

Backing Bragg on the album is the same accomplished band of players who perform in her live shows, including Rich Hinman, Steve Elliot and Adam Levy (guitars), Jordan Perlson and
Brian Wolfe (drums), Jimmy Sullivan (bass), Mike Cassedy (piano, organ) and Marika Hughes (cello).

While she has drawn comparisons to Patty Griffin and Shawn Colvin—and does indeed bear some stylistic resemblances to them—Bragg comfortably inhabits her unique fusion of American musical forms on Tattoos and Bruises: folk, rock, pop, and country. The album’s title track reveals the level of maturity she has reached as a songwriter and performer: the song not only showcases her voice, but is also a study in economy and restraint. The material ranges in mood, from the surrender of “How and Why,” to the upbeat, flirtatious shuffle of “When Your Heart Belongs to Another.”

Tattoos and Bruises is Bragg’s third studio album. It follows Sugar (2007), which was produced by Darius Jones. Sugar has earned Bragg several industry nods including an Honorable Mention in the International Songwriting Competition and feature placements in the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (Emerging Artists Showcase) and the Wildflower! Festival, where she was a finalist in the Performing Songwriter Competition.

Bragg is especially beloved for her live performances. In addition to a record release residency at The Living Room in June, she will tour the U.S. in support of the album. An itinerary will be announced soon.

On to the giveaway! Sneak Attack Media has graciously offered to give one of my lucky blog readers a copy of Tattoo and Bruises.

9. Share this giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter, gather, etc. (This can be done up to 5 times during the giveaway for up to 5 entries total)

Good luck to all!

Disclaimer: I rec'd a copy of Mary Bragg's Tattoos and Bruises from Sneak Attack Media for the purpose of my review. I was not otherwise compensated and all opionions are my own. A copy of the CD for the winner is also being provided by Sneak Attack Media.

This week I want to ask a question about those lenses that go "in the pink". It's my understanding that once the ranking gets 400,000 or more they are no longer even able to be found in the search engines? If that's the case, how are they to get higher in rank....other than we promote them and/or update them in some way. They become works in progress in the low ranking. It's frustrating me.With the thousands and thousands of lenses out there, how in the world would you prevent your lenses from going in to work in progress status?

Ok...on that note, here are most of the lenses that I am now showing in the pink. Some I'm not worried about as I'm going to delete them once I get more built.

Sorry, another question. Two of these are book reviews, which in turn are listed within my Book Reviews lens. If they are in the pink and considered a work in progress, I notice they are not showing on my list on my bio page as well as when you read my bio, they aren't even counted as how many lenses I have. Does this mean they aren't showing up in my book reviews lens to maybe get some exposure from there?

"Dust" and Other Poems by Thomas Noel Smith
ISBN 978-1-4327-6878-2
Published by Outskirts Press
Publication date January 18, 2011

This is my first time reading and reviewing a book of poetry.
The info sheet states that "these poems are a collection of works that address the human condition, from our origins to our movement and development through time. Some of the works are heartwarming. Some are disquieting. Each poem attempts to engage the mind, touch the heart, and invigorate the spirit."

As I read through the poems and read through many of them again and again, I see the above statement as being very true. I read a lot of sadness over missing loved ones. I also read poems with memories from the heart. 57 poems in all to touch your senses.

One poem entitled "September 30, 1946" intrigued me. I wondered if that was he birth date of the author. An email to him told me that it was. Very neat as my mother's birthdate is Sept. 27, 1946.

If you enjoy poetry, you should check this book out.

About the author:

Thomas Noel Smith is a poet and writer of short stories. He has a degree in English and a degree in Theatre. In addition, he is currently a film actor is Florida. He has also worked as a professional circus clown and magician.

For more information, visit http://outskirtspress.com/thomasnoelsmith

Disclaimer: I was sent a copy of "Dust" and Other Poems by the author for the purpose of my review. I was not compensated in any other way. All opinions are my own.

I put in some work on the quilt I am working on for sewing club at church. Once I get all the zig zag stitching done I will have to wait for instructions on how to do about doing the edging.

I started making baby bibs with my flannel type material. I'm also still working on fabric bags.

I put aside working on my toothbrush rug to keep working on the double thick crocheted hot pads. I am in hopes of having all of these completed before next Wednesday. I then want to concentrate on my rug until it's done before starting another project.

When I was contacted by Wilks PR and Alpha Books with the opportunity to review and do a giveaway of the book You Can Do A Graphic Novel by Barbara Slate, I was so excited! My teen age daughter is really into reading graphic novels, and she loves to draw as well. I immediately went and told her the news that we were getting the book after shooting back an email with my address and my excitement.

When the book came in the mail, she hastily opened it and started reading immediately. It's a cool book!From what I can see, nothing is left out in teaching you how to draw your own graphic novel. This book has now become a part of Jasmine's homeschooling for art.

It so happened that the night after getting the book in the mail, my middle daughter went in to labor. She was scheduled to go in to the hospital the following morning early so I already had a "hospital bag" packed for my daughter, her 8 yr old step son, and me. I had made sure to pack You Can Do A Graphic Novel in the bag, along with some card stock and paper.It didn't take my daughters 8 yr old step son long to discover the book in the bag. He immediately started reading through it. He asked for paper and couldn't wait to get started on his own book.Here is a photo of his first page. He is very proud of it, and was showing everyone he could.

About the Author:

Barbara Slate has done it all. Her first character, Ms. Liz, appeared on millions of greeting cards, in a regular comic strip for Cosmopolitan magazine, as a spokesperson for Dupont's Lycra and as the star in a series of animated segments on NBC's Today Show. Her big break in comics came when she created Angel Love for DC Comics. From there, she created, wrote and drew Yuppies from Hell, and Sweet XVI for Marvel and put her own spin on the Disney classics Beauty and the Beast,Pocahontas, Archie's Betty and Veronica, and Mattel's Barbie. Barbara's art has been exhibited in many galleries and reviewed by The New York Times. She is profiled in the seminal work A Century of Women Cartoonists. Stan Lee, Chairman, POW! Entertainment and Chairman Emeritus, Marvel Entertainment, calls Barbara "titanically talented." She is currently busy being a mom, doing a graphic novel titled, I Got Married and Other Mistakes, and teaching. Her website is barbaraslate.com.

You Can Do a Graphic Novel

ISBN: 9781592579556

Alpha Books, $19.95

Now on to the giveaway! Wilks PR and Alpha Books has graciously offered to give a copy of this book to one of my lucky blog readers.Rules:Open to the U.S.Giveaway starts June 21, 2010 and ends Tuesday July 5 at 9 pm CST.Winner will be drawn using random.org.Winner will have 48 hours to contact me or another winner will be drawn.Leave a separate comment for each entry and make sure at least one of your entries has a way to contact you if you are the winner.

Mandatory entry: Comment and let me know who you will give this book to if you win.

Additional ways to enter:

1. Visit barbaraslate.com. and come back and leave a comment about something you learned.

2. Like my facebook fan page, follow me with google friend connect, subscribe to my blog by email, vote for me on the fence, join my blog frog community, and/or follow @marsha32 on twitter. All of these except the twitter can be done from my blog. Each one is worth an entry so please leave separate comments for each one. Up to 6 entries!

3. Place my button on your site. (3 entries) Comment with the URL where I will find it.4. Post about this giveaway on your blog, facebook, twitter, gather etc. Comment with the link to find the post. This can be done up to 5 times during the giveaway.

Good luck!!Disclaimer: I was sent You Can Do A Graphic Novel by Alpha Books for the purpose of my review and giveaway. I was not compensated in any other way for my review. All opinions about the book are my own.

First I want to talk about the store changes I seen at Walgreen's when I shopped yesterday. There are now signs in front of the register rewards items that state "Limit one item per household per day" The cashier told me this is to stop people from doing numerous transactions, allowing others to have a chance to get the products before the shelves are empty.I know that lots of people do this. Personally, I've only done it a few times for items we really needed and could use. Normally in this case I make my daughter go through the line rather than myself doing more than one transaction.Is this a nationwide change, or just my store? I'm curious because one of the managers at my Walgreen's has been assuring me for week's that he was trying to figure out how to make it so that when I come to shop the items aren't gone.

Here is what I got:1 Gillette Fusion razor on sale for $9.89, used $4 coupon, got back $5 in RR'sLysol Wipes, on sale for $2.99, no coupon, got back $1 in RR'sReal Soft 4 double roll pack, $2.29, no coupon (I went to get the Charmin 6 double rolls on sale for $2.99 with Walgreen's coupon only to be told that item was discontinued)5 boxes of Royal gelatin, on sale for .19 each. I used $1/5 coupon that they took down to the .95 off.

In addition, I used $11 in RR's from my previous shopping. I paid just $1.47 OOP ($1.30 of that was sales tax) and took home $6 in RR's. I call this a sucessful trip! I was able to get cleaning wipes that I wanted, toilet paper that we needed, a razor to put in my Christmas stash box, and free gelatin.

Now, on to Wal Mart. I didn't have many of the coupons in my box that were to match up for the bargains, but I did get a few things. My breakfast drink went up from $4.58 to $4.96, but that is still $2 cheaper than at the grocery store. I was glad to be able to print $1.25 coupons from their facebook page!

I paid $5.83 OOP of which .97 was sales tax. Not bad. I'm enjoying how much easier it is to use coupons at Wal Mart now and since that is where I buy my breakfast drink since it's so much cheaper, I am now watching for the posts on the deals there.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Love Food & Live Well by Chantel HobbsISBN 978-0-307-45784-4Chantel Hobbs is the author of Never Say Diet. In Love Food & Live Well she teaches you how to lose weight, get fit & taste live at it's very best (taken from the front cover)

This book is great! I'm not in the need of losing weight. In the opposite, I would love to gain some weight. My teen, however, is trying to figure how to lose weight.Written by a Christian, and in a Christian perspective, makes me enjoy this book even more.Inside I learned so many important aspects of food that do have to do with my life and my way of living, despite not needing to lose weight. She goes in to detail about calories, carbs, protein and fat. She explains how they are all important to you...as well as the times of the day you have them.

Chapter 11 in entitled How to Make Meals Meaningful and includes several recipes. They all look great and will provide you with some variation in your meals so they don't get boring.I like her 80/20 Rule---80% of the time you eat what is good for you and your body--20% of the time your splurge on things you love (like a brownie, or a piece of birthday cake) I've gone over this rule with my teen and talked to her about the calories and planning for the special events etc.There is an entire section on exercising. It's important to maintain a regular exercise regimen no matter what your lifestyle is.Included in this section you find many different types of exercises including the instructions on how to do them as well as photos. I'm one of those that need the photos to truly understand and make sure that I am doing the exercise correctly.

She makes the reading fun by doing a lot of comparisons along the way. Some comparisons she uses are the Barbie doll and buying a car.

Whether you want/need to lose weight or not, I highly recommend this book for the nutritional education alone. It's being passed to my daughter for her to read through for herself.

Disclaimer:I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

All in all it was a pretty good week.I rec'd:Coupon Train$35.50 check from hausernet--woo hoo! my first check finally!!Pampers couponsBlack & Milk couponsa few pieces of hausernet mail along with the magazines from them (Sports Illustrated, 2 issues of Time, People, 2 issues of Entertainment Weekly)Jerky Direct autoship (paid for by my downline)Carefree sample and couponBusiness Week magazineOk! magazine (I paid $2 for this subscription, so not free)Forbes magazine

Online Craft Mall

Buy Handmade or Sell Your Own!

Disclaimer

Some of my posts may be compensated reviews or posts. Or, I may have received a free product in exchange for sharing my opinion. All opinions posted by me are 100% my own regardless of compensation received.
Some posts may also include affiliate links.